"When I first came to Suzhou to work in a textiles firm 20 years ago, my salary was half that of local residents. Now I can get equal pay and insurance like other support staff at the school. This gives me a feeling of being at home," Zhang said.

What offered the couple an even stronger "feeling of home" was that their 17-year-old daughter could sit in a local public high school and was on good terms with her city-born classmates.

Millions of migrants are enjoying an increasingly better work environment and an improving social security net as the government is stepping up efforts to help migrant workers find jobs in cities or towns near their villages to get access to a better life.

"The construction project has been completed, and my team head has helped me and other colleagues find another construction job in Suzhou next year. Our family would come back after the Spring Festival and we hope for a better life next year," Cui said.

Editor: Lency

Source: China Daily